This invention relates to the field of electronic transactions, and more particularly relates to optical transaction cards which use CD-ROM technology to represent cash or other value for use in computer-aided value transactions.
Transaction cards have become a preferred media for monetary, or other value, transactions due to ease of use, portability, and self-contained loss limits in the case of theft or accidental misplacement of one""s card. Assigning the card a fixed xe2x80x9cface value,xe2x80x9d which is decremented with use, not only limits the amount sacrificed due to loss or theft, but also allows users to maintain budgets, particularly when used by children. Transaction cards have gained widespread acceptance for telephone usage, wherein the xe2x80x9ccurrencyxe2x80x9d of the face value is minutes of long distance calling; for toll payment, such as the xe2x80x9cE-Z Passxe2x80x9d program on New York State toll roads; for gas purchases, generally from a fixed group of merchants (e.g., Mobil gas stations), etc.
The types of transaction cards which are presently available include the category of magnetic cards (as shown at 10 in front-view FIG. 1A and back-view FIG. 1B with magnetic stripe 12 disposed on the back of the card), which have encoded information provided in a magnetic stripe, and so-called xe2x80x9csmart cardsxe2x80x9d (20 of front-view FIG. 2A and inside-view FIG. 2B) which have on-board processors, 22, memory locations, 23, and interface logic, 24, to ensure integrity and reliability. While the magnetic versions are generally much less expensive to produce, their drawbacks include the fact that, in most instances, the magnetic medium can be reprogrammed to illegally add value to a xe2x80x9cspentxe2x80x9d card. In addition, the magnetic media suffers from vulnerability to accidental erasure through incidental exposure to electrical or magnetic fields. Magnetic card programming equipment and readers represent other sources of error in the use of magnetic cards since their reliability is not optimal.
Disadvantages of the smart card implementation include the expense of the memory, logic, and processor components, and the attendant processing needed for creating each card. Smart cards have been developed with security measures to minimize the risk of counterfeiting cards or altering the programming thereof. Those security measures are, however, limited to the security algorithms which are built into the card and to the security measures which are part of the host card-programming application, and which also add further expense to the production and maintenance of smart cards.
At present, cash cards and smart cards have been limited in their usage to dedicated transactions. For example, a telephone calling card cannot be used to ride a subway, and vice versa. Each merchant or group of closely-related merchants requires the use of a specific card which is monitored (i.e., decremented) by a proprietary system. Therefore, while a user may find transaction cards to be conveniently portable, carrying a dozen such cards can become more burdensome (though still less risky) than carrying cash or a credit card.
What is a desirable objective, therefore, is to provide a transaction card in a medium which would be both cost effective and secure.
Another objective is to provide a transaction card which could be used for a variety of non-related transactions.
Yet another objective of the invention is to provide a transaction card which is not prone to accidental erasure.
Still another objective of the invention is to provide a transaction card which can be programmed and read with reliable and inexpensive equipment.
These and other objectives are realized by the present invention wherein the transaction card comprises an optical card created using CD-ROM technology which can be read and erased but not reprogrammed. The optical transaction card is programmed (i.e., written to) at bit increments representing, in total, the stated value of the card; and, is then decremented by erasing the incremental bits during use. Once bits have been erased (or otherwise marked as xe2x80x9cusedxe2x80x9d), they cannot be reprogrammed.